Pokemon GO players have been eagerly racing to Mega Evolve their Pokemon after this week’s new updates. Although the feat normally requires 200 of the new Mega Energy, one observant player has found a shortcut to the process involving trading.
Despite Pokemon GO finally introducing Mega Evolution, players remain partially dissatisfied by the ridiculous costliness of the process. Thankfully though, Pokemon YouTuber “JFarmakis” has shared their discovery of a blessed loophole via Twitter.
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It seems that if a Pokemon has been Mega Evolved at least once before, it will keep its Mega Energy discount even after trading. Of course, Mega Pokemon can’t be traded, so Trainers will have to wait through the duration of Mega Evolution before swapping. That said, with some thoughtful trades, Pokemon like Beedrill, which normally require 100 Mega Energy to Mega Evolve, can be powered up for a mere 25 Mega Energy. Meanwhile, Pokemon like Charizard and the other Kanto starters can have their cost of 200 Mega Energy discounted to 50.
At the moment, Mega Evolving a Pokemon requires somewhere between 100 and 200 Mega Energy, depending on the species. Furthermore, the only consistent way to earn Mega Energy is by successfully completing Mega Raid Battles, which reward a maximum of 50 Mega Energy per victory. This means that a player hoping to Mega Evolve their Blastoise for the first time would normally have to complete 4-5 Mega Blastoise raids, minimum, to collect the required energy. Needless to say, at this rate, some players would rather pick the best Kanto starter Mega Evolution instead of trying to unlock all three.
With the trading exploit in mind, Trainers and their friends can employ a “divide and conquer” method to easily fill their Mega Pokedexes. If Trainer A focuses on collecting 200 Venusaur Mega Energy, for example, Trainer B can focus on collecting Blastoise Mega Energy. Once Trainer A Mega Evolves their Venusaur once, and Trainer B does the same with Blastoise, they can trade. Trainer A will then be able to obtain a powerful Mega Blastoise at the reduced cost of 50 Mega Energy, despite the fact that they’ve never Mega Evolved a Blastoise before, and vice versa for Trainer B.
While this may very well be an intended feature of Mega Evolution, many players speculate it may just be another one of Niantic’s usual oversights. In case the “feature” gets patched, players should be quick to take advantage of this exploit. It’ll be especially easy to coordinate all the trades since there are only four Pokemon currently able to Mega Evolve. But either way, Mega Evolution is not permanent, and Mega Pokemon can’t partake in PVP, so players who don’t care for the Mega Pokedex entry won’t be missing out on much.
With its first few Mega Pokemon finally making their debut, Pokemon GO is getting closer and closer to the present-day generation of Pokemon. And although the long-anticipated introduction to Mega Evolution continues to be drawn out, players can definitely start looking forward to at least a few more Mega Pokemon. Otherwise, recent trailers wouldn’t have showcased so many Mega fan-favorites, like the steely cool Lucario. While they wait, though, players can still complete the “A Mega Discovery” Special Research for an easy shot at Mega Beedrill.
Pokemon GO is available now on the App Store and Google Play.
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